America's $61bn aid package buys Ukraine time

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Since late February Russia's army has been creeping across eastern Ukraine. First the town of Avdiivka fell—Russia's biggest advance in almost a year. Next its soldiers occupied a series of villages farther west. Russia's progress is a reflection of its overwhelming advantage in firepower: on some parts of the front line, for every shell the Ukrainians have shot at Russian lines, the Russians have rained down 17 in response. Ukrainian forces have been rationing ammunition, for fear of running out. That scarcity, in turn, was a reflection of America's failure to approve any new military aid for Ukraine since last summer.

This week, however, after months of dithering, Congress approved $40bn of such assistance, a sum roughly equivalent to all America's military aid to Ukraine since the war began. (There was also some humanitarian aid and help for Israel and Taiwan.) Joe Biden, America's president, signed the bill into law on April 24th and ordered the immediate dispatch of the first $1bn of supplies, to arrive in days.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Last-minute reprieve"

From the April 27th 2024 edition

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